This study has been completed. The objective of the project was to confirm the clinical diagnosis of Friedreich ataxia in 49 patients attending the Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinic, who have carried the clinical diagnosis of Friedreich ataxia. Diagnostic confirmation was done by identifying the presence of a trinucleotide (GAA) expansion in intron 1 of the Frataxin gene (the gene responsible for Friedreich ataxia). Patients with genotypic conformation of the diagnosis of Friedreich ataxia were then recruited for the iron chelation study.